THE ELIZABETHAN FAIRIES

ORIGIN AND NATURE 4 1
In regard to the origin of the fairies, there were, in
general, three beliefs or theories. These have been
summed up by the anonymous author of A Discourse con-
cerning Devils and Spirits, as follows:
Many have insisted upon the Natures of these Astral Spirits:
some alledging, That they are part of the faln Angels, and conse-
quently subject to the torments of Hell at the last Judgment:
Others, That they are the departed souls of men and women, con-
fined to these outward Elements until the Consummation: Lastly,
others, as Del rio, Nagar the Indian Magician, and the Platonists
affirm, That their nature is middle between Heaven and Hell; and
that they reign in a third Kingdom from both, having no other
judgment or doom to expect for ever.'j5
The identification of the fairies as fallen angels had
been one of the earliest origins assigned to them. Ac-
cording to The Early South-English Legendary of the
I 3th century,'j6 in the account of the fall of Lucifer :
for al-so sone as ore louerd I-maud: heouene and eorpe and helle,
he makede him furst and is felawes: ase ich ov mai here telle.
And he ase-sone ase he was imaud: he bi-gan to smite in pruyte:
Al-so heia ase ore louerd he wolde beo: he bi-sat pare-with we1
luyte.
Manie heolden faste with him: and noust alle of one lore:
And manie likeden we1 is dedene: some lasse and some more,
Some ferden ase huy ne rousten: noper of on .ne of opur.
pare ne bi-lefte in heouene non of heom: ne heore maister noper.
Seint Mi3hel was maister to driuen heom: out of heuene a-doun:
pat was pe batayle pat he made: with pe lupere dragoun.
The hoofed Satyres silent heretofore:
Religion, vertue, Muses, holie mirth
Haue now forsworne the late forsaken earth."
6Qpt. in Appendix I1 of Reginald Scot, The Discoverie of Witch-
craft, Nicholson rpt., 1886, p. 495.
s6 See Introduction, E. E. T. S. ed., 1887, pp. viii and x.